GOD IS B..D

GOD IS B..D

NO NAME GIVEN: Here’s something for your Blog. I’m neither [a] sceptic nor a Christian, but I have a gripe. God, the sadistic b…..d, can stay out of my life. I’ve read the parts of your book I can understand, and nothing you say can explain why I lost two teenage sons in different car accidents, and it wasn’t their fault. We turn on TV [Aljazeera presumably] and watch nothing but slaughter in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, parts of Africa and elsewhere. Most of the fighting is religious. Many of the victims are children. So much for God, or “Mother Nature” as you call Him/Her/It. Now I have cancer. Does anything make any b….y sense!?

DES: It’s easy for me to sound wise from a distance, when it’s someone else who is suffering. But genuinely I understand what you are saying.

I guess we’re a bit like little guys building sand castles on the beach. The parents let each youngster create a castle so he can immerse himself in his activities and learn as a result. Mum and Dad can’t create sand castles on behalf of their children, and learn for them. When the tide comes in and washes away all that careful work, the kids have another lesson to ponder. That’s how learning proceeds

It’s the same for all of us. I am creating myself second by second, and thought by thought, and emotion by emotion, and activity by activity. Nobody can create me except ME. That is my mandate for as many heartbeats as I am here. In other words, that’s what I am doing in this place. At the end of my life I am what I have created.

The same with you. But exactly what is it YOU are creating? Are you exporting peace and love to those you encounter? Are you inspiring them, or providing a role model so they can be more complete human beings?

When the tide washed away your sand castle (when you tragically lost your boys, and then contracted cancer), did you take the opportunity to reach out to others similarly afflicted, and support and comfort them? Or did you just walk past that window of opportunity? Whatever you did, you were creating. You were creating YOU! You cannot avoid creating.

People who are particularly prone to cancer include those who are unhappy or disadvantaged or angry. There are many exceptions (as with children), but cancer can go by the name of hatred, resentment, self-loathing, guilt, lack of control of one’s life, deep sadness, being profoundly self-centred. Apart from medical or complementary/alternative intervention, what can remove cancer from one’s MIND and body? You guessed it: making use of every opportunity to help another person – as a matter of habit. That will make you free. It will make you whole, because you will be creating something DIFFERENT within yourself.

Desmond Long was born during the Second World War in Blenheim, New Zealand, where his father was stationed before being posted to Guadalcanal with the American Air Force. The following 17 years were spent in the tiny village of Murchison, perched in the northern reaches of the Southern Alps, where he was the oldest child of the generation. Five years as a trainee in the Royal New Zealand Navy followed. Then came a career in marine electronics, which segued into psychology and eventually a fulltime practice.
Desmond has always “played with words”, and had a number of short stories published in the United States and Australia.
He describes himself as an open-minded skeptic who respects every viewpoint, but goes on to honor the belief structure he most admires.
“BEYOND” was previously published as The Littlest Crusade.